Applicator tubes



Jan. 15, K. A. A. BUNKE APPLICATOR TUBES Filed April 22, 1959 Invemor Karl fi./\.Bun/ e By his Aitorne We. wad

United States Patent Ofificc 3,072,953 Patented Jan. 15, 1963 3,072,953 APPLICATOR TUBES Karl A. A. Bunke, Halsingborg, Sweden, asslgnor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 22, 1959, Ser. No. 808,036 Claims priority, application Sweden May 7, 1958 Claims. (Cl. 15-592) The present invention relates to an applicator device and a tube for pastes or similar viscous substances.

Collapsible tubes containing paste or similar viscous substances are often provided with a special tube cap containing an applicator pad of a resilient material to facilitate the'distribution of the paste material. Such tubes are usually cylindrical and designed with a tapering outlet narrowing into a mouth of substantially smaller diameter than that of the tube itself. In this type tube, the applicator pad is mounted independently on a support which screws onto the mouth of the tube.

This arrangement has been found useful; but it suffers from certain disadvantages. Thus, there is considerable tendency for the applicator pad support to become unscrewed in the course of use. The cap provided for the applicator pad is a pressure fit pad and forms a seal which is not airtight and allows the paste to dry and harden in the pad. Also,'the separate applicator pad and support and the conventional tube cap which must also be supplied add materially to the cost of the tube of paste. I It'is an object of the present invention to provide an improved unitary applicator tube which is simple, economical, and reliable. v

The applicator device of the present invention includes a cellular applicator pad fixed to the delivery end of a specially formed collapsible tube. tube is formed with an outside diameter substantially the same as that of the body of the tube. A support, suitably a diaphragm, is formed integral with the tube a short distance within the delivery end, so that end portions of the tube provide a flange around the support. The flange and support define a shallow recess to aid in holding the applicator pad. To one face of the applicator pad there is secured a stiff disk having a diameter to fit snugly in the recess. The disk is held firmly in the recess by portions of the flange bent over the edge of the disk. Alined openings are provided in the support, disk and applicator pad for passage of paste from the tube to the spreader surface of the applicator pad.

I The tube is provided with a screw-on cap to form a fluid-tight seal over the applicator pad.

The invention will be described further in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which I FIG. 1 is an elevational view partly in cross section of one form of the tube and applicator device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational cross sectional view of a disk and sponge pad assembly which maybe used in the device of the present invention;

FIG; 3 is'an elevational view partly in cross section of the tube and applicator device of FIG. 1 with the projecting edge of the tube bent inward and with a cap; and

FIG. 4 is 'an 'elevational view in cross-section of another form of the tube and applicator device.

The tube shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 is a cylindrical The delivery end of the p port 14 integral with the tube 10 is provided within the tube and spaced a short distance from the end 12 of the tube. The free end 12 of the tube 10 constitutes a flange 16 defining, with the support 14, a shallow recess to receive the applicator member 18, with the member 18 resting against the support 14 as described below. In general, the support 14 is a shelf extending continuously or interruptedly around the inner walls of the tube 10.

In the preferred form shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the support 14 is .a diaphragm extending across the tube 10. The diaphragm is formed with a nipple 20 at its center extending upward toward the delivery end 12. v An opening 22 which may be closed with a thin rupturable membrane 24 is formed in the upper end of the nipple.

The applicator member 18 for insertion in the recess comprises an applicator pad 26 of cellular resilient material in the form of a cylindrical body formed with a central hole 28 and a bottom disk 30, also formed with a central hole 32 in alinement with the hole 28 in the pad 26, to which the applicator pad 26 is adhesively secured.

The applicator pad portion 26 may be an open-celled cellular body comprised of a foam rubber or resin which is resilient and to a certain degree absorptive. A material which is preferred for this purpose is a polyurethane resin'foamed toprovide an open-celled structure. The applicator pad portion 26 (FIG. 2) may be the improved type shown in United States application Serial No. 777,430, now Patent No. 2,962,743, filed December 1,' 1958, in the name of Fred E. Henriksson, comprising a top thin layer 34 of an absorptive open-celled cellular resin joined to a thicker bottom layer 36 of a resilient closed-cell, i.e., nonabsorptive, cellular resin. I

The bottom disk 30' may be any material with a certain amount of rigidity such as cardboard, a plastic, e.g.', cellulose acetate, hard rubber, or a similar material to which cement for binding the pad 26 will adhere well and which is :unaflected by the tube contents. Although the bottom disk may be a simple flat disk, the preferred form, shown in FIG. 2, comprises a flat bottom portion 38 and an upstanding flange 40 spaced in from the edges of the bottom portion 38 to provide a support to resist excess distortion of the applicator pad 26. The diameter of the bottom portion 38 of the disk 30 is such as to fit snugly in the recess in the delivery end 12 of the tube 10. The disk and diaphragm cooperate to provide the necessary strength at the delivery end of the tube so that the applicator pad can be manipulated to spread the paste on the desired surface.

s The distributing member 18 is placed with the disk 30 disposed against the support 14 in the recess defined by the flange 16 in the distributing end 12 of the tube, and with the applicator pad 26 projecting out beyond the tube end 1.2. The hole 32 in the disk 30 fits over the nipple 22 in the diaphragm 14. The projecting edge or flange 16 is bent inward into position 42 as in FIG.

- 3, so that the disk 30 is permanently pressed and firmly body of a thin-easily deformable material such as a plas- I held against the supporting diaphragm 14.

The form of the tube in which the support is a dia-' phragm possesses advantages in strength and efliciency of operation; but as shown in FIG. 4, a single shoulder 44 around the interior of the tube 10 will cooperate with the flange portions 16 to fix the disk 30 of the applicator member 18 in the end of the tube.

The delivery end 12 of the tube 10 is provided with an external thread 46 for a tight screw-on engagement with the internal threads 47 of a cap 48. The external diameter of the cap 48 corresponds to that of the tube 10, so

that with the cap in position, the combination presents a neat continuous external surface. The overlapping end 50 of the cap fits tightly against the outer portion 52 of the tube below the screw threads. The cap .48 is pro' openingsfor passage, of

vided with a central rod 54 which is used to rupture the thin membrane 24 in the diaphragm 14 and which also serves to close the opening 20.

The tube'10 is easily filled with paste from the bottom end '56 with the rupturable membrane 24 in place. The bottom end 56 is crimped shut to seal the paste between the bottom end 56 and the closure 24 at the delivery end 12. In use, the rupturable membrane 24 is ruptured, and the tube is squeezed to force a limited amount of paste through the openings in the support, disk and pad to the spreading surface 58 of'the applicator pad 26. After use, the cap may be screwed on tightly to preserve the paste against excessive loss of volatile components of the paste and resultant hardening.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

, 1. A device for storing and applying pastes comprising a collapsible thin walled tube composed of easily deformable material and having its delivery end substantially the sameoutside diameter as that of the main body of said tube, a support integral withand of the same material as said tube spaced a short distance within the delivery end so that end portions of the tube provide a flange around the support anddefine with the support a shallow recess, a resilient cellular applicator pad and a thin, fiat, stifi bottom disk having a diameter to fit snugly in said recess with its edges touching the interior walls of said flange, said applicator pad'being adhered to one face of said disk over substantially the entire area of said face and'said disk being disposed in said recess with the other face against said support and held firmly therein by portions of said flange bent over the edge of said disk, said support and disk co-operating to resist crushing of the delivery end of said tube, said support, disk and pad being formed with alignedopenings for passage of paste from said tube to the exposed surface of said pad.

Y 2. Adevicefor storing and applying paste comprising acollapsible thin walled tube composed of easily deformable material and having its delivery end of substantially the same outside diameter as that of the main body of said tube, a diaphragm integral with and of the same material. as said tube spaced a short distance Within the delivery end so that end portions of the tube provide a flange around said diaphragm and define with the diaphragm a shallow recess, a resilientcellular applicator pad and a thin, flat, stiff bottom disk having'a diameter to fit snugly in said recess with its edges touching the interior walls of said flange, said applicator pad being ad hered to one face of said disk over substantially the entire area of said face, andsaid disk being disposed in said recess with the other face against said diaphragm and held firmly therein by portions of said flange bent over the'edge of said disk, said diaphragmand disk co-operating to resist crushing of the delivery end of said tube, said diaphragm, disk and pad being formed with aligned '3. Adevice for storing and applying paste comprising a collapsible thin walled tube, composed, of easily deformable material and having its delivery end substantially the same outside diameter as that of the main body of said'tube, a diaphragm integral with and of the same paste from said tube to the ex posed surface of said pad.

- phragin a shallow recess, said diaphragmbeing provided witha central nipple-extending upward toward ,said delivery-end and formed with an opening in its upper end,

a resilient cellular applicator pad, and a thin, flat, stilf bottom disk'having a diameter to fit snugly in said recess with its edges touching the interior walls of said flange,

' t, and being formed witha centrally disposed openingfof a ":diam'eter to fit snuglyaround said'nipple, said nipple hav-' ing a height substantially the thickness of said disk, said applicator pad being adhered to one face of said disk over substantially the entire area of said face, and said disk being disposed in said recess with the other face against said diaphragmand held firmly therein by portions of said flange bent over the edge of said disk, said diaphragm and disk co-operating to resist crushing of the delivery end of said tube, said pad being formed with an opening aligned with the openings in said disk and nipple for passage of paste from said tube to the exposed surface of said pad.

4. A device for storing and applying paste comprising a collapsible'thin walled tube composed of easily deformable material and having its delivery end substantially the same diameter as that of the main body of said tube, a shoulder integral with and of the same material as said tube spaced a short distance within the delivery end so that end portions of the tube provide a flange around said shoulder and define with the shoulder a shallow recess, a resilient cellular applicator pad and a thin, flat, stifi bottom disk having a diameter to fit snugly in said recess with its edges touching the interior walls of said flange, said applicator pad being adhered to one face of said disk over substantially the entire area of said face and said disk being disposed in said recess with the other face against saidshoulder and held firmly therein by portions of said flange bent over the edge of said disk, said shoulder and disk co-operating to resist crushing of the delivery end of said tube, said shoulder, disk and pad being formed with aligned openings for, passage of paste from said tube to the exposed surface of said pad.

5. A device for storing and .applying'pastes comprising a collapsible thin Walled tube composed of easily deformable material and having its delivery end substantially the same outside diameter as that of the main body of said tube, a support integral with and of the same material as said tube spaced a short distance within the delivery end so that end portions of the tube provide a flange around the support and define with the support a shallow-recess, a resilient cellular applicator pad and a thin, flat, stiff bottom disk comprising a flat bottom portion and an upstanding flange spaced in from the edge of the bottom portion, said bottom portion having a diameter to fit snugly in said recess with its edges touching the interior walls of said flange, said applicator pad being adhered to the bottom portion of one face of-said disk within said upstanding. flange over substantially the entire area of said face, and said disk being disposed in said recess with the other face against said support and held firmly therein by portions of said flange bent over the edge of said disk, said support and disk co-operating to resist crushing of the delivery end of said tube, said'support, disk and pad being formed with aligned openings for passage of paste from said tube to the exposed surface of said pad.

, References Cited in the file of this patent "UNITED-STATES PATENTS 63 1,000

Symonds Aug. 15, 823,298 Smith June 12, 1906 1,007,492 Ruch Oct. 31, 1911 1,481,733 Paull Ian. 22, 1924 1,496,719 'Maillett June 3, 1924 1,661,607 Evans Mar. 6, 1928 2,118,051 MacMichael May 24, 1938 2,962,743, Henriksson Dec. 6, 1960 a FOREIGN PATENTS 67,768 .France u Oct. 7, 1957 t (Addition to No. 1,095,706) 7 v 443,496 France Sept. 25,1912

10,453 V Great Britain May 2, 1912 7 334,314 GreatBritain Sept. 4, 1930 Great Britain Sept, 3, 1958 

1. A DEVICE FOR STORING AND APPLYING PASTES COMPRISING A COLLAPSIBLE THIN WALLED TUBE COMPOSED OF EASILY DEFORMABLE MATERIAL AND HAVING ITS DELIVERY END SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME OUTSIDE DIAMETER AS THAT OF THE MAIN BODY OF SAID TUBE, A SUPPORT INTEGRAL WITH AND OF THE SAME MATERIAL AS SAID TUBE SPACED A SHORT DISTANCE WITHIN THE DELIVERY END SO THAT END PORTIONS OF THE TUBE PROVIDE A FLANGE AROUND THE SUPPORT AND DEFINE WITH THE SUPPORT A SHALLOW RECESS, A RESILIENT CELLULAR APPLICATOR PAD AND A THIN, FLAT, STIFF BOTTOM DISK HAVING A DIAMETER TO FIT SNUGLY IN SAID RECESS WITH ITS EDGES TOUCHING THE INTERIOR WALLS OF SAID FLANGE, SAID APPLICATOR PAD BEING ADHERED TO ONE FACE OF SAID DISK OVER SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE AREA OF SAID FACE AND SAID DISK BEING DISPOSED IN SAID RECESS WITH THE OTHER FACE AGAINST SAID SUPPORT AND HELD FIRMLY THEREIN BY PORTIONS OF SAID FLANGE BENT OVER THE EDGE OF SAID DISK, SAID SUPPORT AND DISK CO-OPERATING TO RESIST CRUSHING OF THE DELIVERY END OF SAID TUBE, SAID SUPPORT, DISK AND PAD BEING FORMED WITH ALIGNED OPENINGS FOR PASSAGE OF PASTE FROM SAID TUBE TO THE EXPOSED SURFACE OF SAID PAD. 